Software Assurance vs CSP Subscription
Same software, different rights. A perpetual license, a perpetual license with Software Assurance, and a CSP subscription each carry a different set of benefits. See which ones you get with each, and what owning versus subscribing costs over your timeline.
What each benefit does
New version rights
Upgrade to any version released while your coverage is active, without buying the license again.
Azure Hybrid Benefit
Use your licenses on Azure virtual machines so Azure charges for compute only, often cutting the VM price substantially.
License Mobility and Flexible Virtualization
Run SQL Server on shared hardware at other cloud providers or authorized outsourcers, instead of only on hardware you control.
Disaster recovery and per-VM licensing
Keep a passive failover instance without licensing it separately, and license individual virtual machines instead of every physical core of the host.
A summary for planning. The Microsoft Product Terms and your agreement govern; ask us to confirm rights for your exact scenario.
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